And this tracks with nationwide trends. According to a Pew analysis of Census data, immigration from Mexico declined from the ’90s to the ’00s, but births among Mexican-Americans surged (Mexicans != all Latinos, of course, but they do make up the majority of American Latinos, including within Chicago):

In short, there was a big surge in Mexican immigrants between the ’80s and the ’90s. That tailed off, but led to a subsequent surge in second-generation Americans.

The Pew Hispanic Center has been producing some interesting stats; the most interesting to me was this one:

An impressive showing by my ten-term House rep, but obviously the job’s available. The political ramifications of this shift are going to be fascinating.

Illinois, of course, recently passed its own DREAM act; WBEZ’s Achy Obejas explains exactly what it does. It’s not as much as you might think, but it’s meant to serve a college-age population that’s ballooning. William Frey’s report for the Brookings Institution takes a different look at the numbers, which makes it clear just to what degree Latino children are the nation’s future: